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Road trip to success: BPCA Strategic Plan 2018-2020

I am delighted to share with you an overview of our strategy for the next three years. In the spirit of “driving excellence in pest management” let’s take the idea of driving as an analogy for our strategy.

BPCA (and the members we work on behalf of) make up our trusty van. Our objectives are the places we want to go together. Our fuel is the income we need to keep us going, and the driver of the van is the knowledge we’ve collected over the last 76 years of being the leading association for pest management.

Our Executive Board, staff team and member committees represent a whole range of mirrors, satnavs, windscreen wipers and airbags (which, of course, I mean in the kindest possible way!) – all of whom support us getting to where we want to be.

Each element of the strategy has an Executive Board and staff team member championing it. They’re the guys planning the route and marking the map as we go (and threatening to turn the car around if the kids in the back don’t start playing nice).

As with any road trip, how you get there is as important as the destination. We thought it was worth putting our values as an Association out for the world to see. While we’re on the road, we’ll travel with integrity, value, care and cooperation, upholding the reputation of our Association, sector and membership as we go.

Let’s start with where we’re going – our key objectives are:

LEAD the professional pest management sector by promoting professional practice

BPCA and our members are well on the way to leading the pest management sector towards best practice. We promote best working methods through Codes of Best Practice, championing BS EN16636 audits, providing sector-leading training, qualifications, CPD resources and technical advice. We’ll know we’ve arrived when the industry is filled with suitably trained, qualified and audited pest control providers.

EXPLORE a viable licensing structure for the professional pest management sector

We want to get to a place where we can see how a licensing structure for UK pest management would work. The ever-watchful eyes of legislators have turned to our sector over recent years, and BPCA wants to be prepared for a situation where (like many other countries) pest controllers need to be licensed to practice professionally. To bring us back to our driving metaphor, we want to get to the top of the hill so we can see what might be coming from the distance and prepare the next leg of our journey accordingly.

EDUCATE the full supply chain about the value of what BPCA and its members provide

We’ve been educating the whole supply chain about the value of what we do for some time now, but we want to step this up. This isn’t just about offering training courses to prospective and current pest technicians – although that remains an important part of the plan. We want to reach all levels of our profession, associated sectors, key specifiers, as well as commercial and domestic end-users. We’ll be getting out and about, demonstrating and exhibiting the important messages, increasing our web presence and pushing pest awareness into the relevant circles – all the time promoting the importance of selecting a professional pest management company (ie a BPCA member).

ENHANCE engagement with all (current and potential) members and supporters

As you would expect from a membership organisation, engagement is a part of the journey, which will weave through all of the objectives. I’m keen to bring members, prospective members and supporters even closer to the organisation, in order to maintain and accelerate a coordinated, powerful voice for our community. Giving members and their employees support to get to where their own route map is pointing will no doubt play a pivotal role here, and I’d like to say that we always have been, and always will be, at the end of the phone (handsfree) if you need to talk about where that journey is taking you.